Author

Books by Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) was an English-born political activist, philosopher, and revolutionary writer who became one of the founding voices of American independence. He immigrated to the colonies in 1774 with a letter of introduction from Benjamin Franklin. After Common Sense, he wrote the Crisis papers to sustain morale during the Revolutionary War. Later in life he went to France, participated in the Revolution there, narrowly escaped the guillotine, and wrote The Rights of Man and The Age of Reason. He died in New York in 1809, largely forgotten and politically ostracized.